IRAN invited all 15 UN Security Council members to dinner on Thursday in New York, prompting a US response that it will give Teheran a chance to show it is willing to play by international rules.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki issued the unexpected invitation on the sidelines of the Non-Proliferation Treaty review at UN headquarters. It also came as the five permanent Security Council members – China, the United States, France, Britain and Russia – began talks on a fourth sanctions resolution against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.